Results tagged “History”

It was announced in the Press Democrat newspaper today that a memorial service for Dr. LeVell Holmes, professor emeritus of history, is scheduled for Friday, June 29, 1 p.m. at the Community Baptist Church, 1620 Sonoma Avenue, Santa Rosa. Inurnment will be private at the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn.

Memorial Contributions may be made to The Rotary Club of Rohnert Park-Cotati, P.O. Box 1564, Rohnert Park, CA 94928 or The Vista Christian School Garden Project, 2354 Andrade Ave., Richmond, CA 94804.

Dr. William Poe will retire from Sonoma State University after 42 years, effective at the end of this semester.

"The thousands of people Bill has taught over the year have greatly benefited from his dedication and sense of commitment to his students and the field," says Elaine Leeder, Dean of the School of Social Sciences.

Poe earned a divinity degree from Princeton before going on to study archeology at Brandeis University. He first came to Sonoma State in the early 1970s. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in the history department he has also served in the SSU administration in several capacities including as Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Academic Planning, in the School of Social Sciences. He has directed and worked on archeological field schools around the globe, from the Middle East to the Americas.

Poe will be honored at a retirement celebration on Tuesday, April 24 from 4-6 p.m. in the Green Music Center's restaurant Prelude. All members of the University community are invited to join the celebration of Poe's many accomplishments. Refreshments will be served.

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Sonoma State University senior Alex Bretow was working on the set of a new Steve Jobs biography film when he got the email on March 16: "Congratulations, you've been officially accepted into the Cannes CMF program!" Says Bretow, "I literally ran outside and was jumping up and down."

When the producer/director called his filmmaking partner and fellow SSU student, writer/producer Mary-Madison Baldo, she had a similar reaction "I literally screamed," she says. "I was home for spring break, so I tripped up the stairs yelling, 'Mom!' She came out of her bedroom in a panic because she thought that I had hurt myself or something."

Both are appropriate reactions to finding out you've had not one, but two films selected for the most prestigious film festival in the world this May.

Women represent 24 percent of the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce in the United States, a figure that's risen only 3 percent since 1993 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But a new club at Sonoma State University is working to close the gender gap.

"We already have an electrical engineering club, which is geared toward the boys," says Alyssa Afa'ese, electrical engineering major and president of SSU's new Society For Women Engineers club. "Women are underrepresented in our major, so we wanted to start and organization where women can work together."

The club began in fall 2014 and is working to inspire young women at Sonoma State to pursue their interest in engineering science. Afa'ese believes many women are apprehensive about joining the engineering department because of its low percentage of female students.

At 70, Sonoma State University graduate biology student Nicole Karres doesn't need another career. But in 1996 her natural curiosity got the best of her, and after careers in the medical corps in the Army and as a graphic designer at a fortune 500 company, she started what would be a 20-year journey to both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in a field of study that was brand new to her.

Particularly grateful are the jarred fish, amphibian and reptile specimens she has taken to cleaning and re-preserving for future researchers like herself.

Twelve hearty souls from the SSU geology department took a six-day field trip in early September to the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia and Alberta to explore the world-renown Burgess Shale, a UNESCO world heritage site widely lauded as the most important fossil locality in the world.

This field trip ran in conjunction with the upper level Geology elective course, GEL321: Burgess Shale Paleontology, a class taught since 2003 by paleontologist Matt James.

The fossils of Burgess Shale were discovered in 1909 during construction of the Trans-Canadian Railway. These 505-million-year-old fossils, remnants of creatures that once lived in a shallow sea, are the best record of the period of time after the appearance of modern hard-shelled multicellular animals and have proved pivotal to the study of paleontology. They are located in the majestic Canadian Rockies on the eastern border of British Columbia, surrounded by stunningly beautiful mountains shaped by numerous glaciers--in short, a geologist's heaven!

Class selection and academic resources are changing for first and second year students at Sonoma State University with the introduction of the voluntary Sophomore Year Experience Program (SYE).

This program, designed to help freshman transition to their sophomore year and prepare for the remainder of their college careers, began last year as a pilot program and is now expanding further among the university this year.

The Dean of the School of Business, his son, and courageous SSU sophomore Sophie Edwards know the battle against blood cancer well. SSU mounts a team for the Light the Night Walk on Oct. 11 as a fundraising event for cancer research and patient services.

When Benji Silver was three months old, he was diagnosed with leukemia, a type of blood cancer. At that point in his life, at such a young age, he was given a 30 percent chance of life. After three years of treatment and constant hospital visits, Benji survived leukemia.
He is now healthy and happy 11 years later at age 14.

His father, Dean of Sonoma State University's School of Business and Economics William Silver, considers his son a "conquerer" for more reasons than one, including his appreciation for life and his strength to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Queer history is about to see the light of day in California's K-12 schools.

If SSU Women's and Gender Studies Chair Don Romesburg has his way, the story won't just include history-making heroes.

Professor Romesburg has worked vigorously with other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) scholars to develop a new framework that weaves analysis of gender and sexuality as social and political forces throughout time.

Since May 2013, Romesburg has steered a rigorous effort to recommend revisions of the California K-12 History - Social Science Framework.

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, he and two co-editors released the groundbreaking report: Making the Framework FAIR: California History-Social Science Framework Proposed LGBT Revisions Related to the FAIR Education Act.

"Students can only truly understand families, communities, social practices, and politics, by understanding how they shaped and were shaped by same-sex relations and gender diversity--and how this changed over time," he says.

The entrance to the Children's School on the SSU campus is the first step to understanding the power of the environment as teacher.

Some children harvest raspberries as others care for chickens that inhabit the outdoor area that surrounds the school. Pears and other fruits growing in the garden are ready to be plucked soon.Sponsored by the Associated Students, the Children's School offers a one-of-a-kind learning experience for children ages one to five years old, for low income families, and for SSU students and faculty

With another successful year in the books for SSU student-athletes, the Dept. of Intercollegiate Athletics reports that 62 Seawolves earned All-Academic honors by their respective conferences for the 2013-14 school year.
In addition, 12 other student-athletes not eligible for conference awards and/or compete on a team not affiliated with a conference earned Academic Distinction for having a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher. The overall total of 74 Seawolves earning academic honors is an increase from last year's tally of 64.

Student research, scholarship and creative activity capitalize on the strength of the faculty and add currency to students' educational experience, says Provost Andrew Rogerson. Aiming to strengthen the major opportunities that undergraduate students at SSU have for compelling research, Rogerson funded 29 grants for faculty-student teams this semester.

Looking for an exciting way to explore Sonoma County history? Then the University Library's Special Collections is the place to start. With thousands of unique primary materials, there are treasures on every aspect of North Bay history. With many items available online, you can start exploring from home.

The best place to start is with the collection materials from Sonoma County's famed historian Gaye LeBaron. The Gaye LeBaron Collection includes a truly eclectic range of items from letters to clippings to photographs, and more, organized into over 800 topics, many of which can be viewed online.

Kinesiology professor Lauren Morimoto has been named Director of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence at SSU. She applied for the position to reframe conversations about diversity - rather than something SSU "has" to do, as something SSU wants to do. Diversity promotes academic excellence and positive learning experiences for students in- and out- of underrepresented groups, she says.

Since 2000, Phillips has served as SSU's Associate Director of Student Development, prior to her current position she was a Residential Life Coordinator of Zinfandel Village from 1997 until taking her most current position.

As an Associate Director of Student Development she is responsible for supervising the Residential Life Coordinators who manage the continuing-student villages, which include Beaujolais, Tuscany, and Sauvignon East.

If 300 Northern California math teachers were supported by the North Bay Mathematics Project (NBMP) in summer 2013, how many K-12 students have benefitted from the Project's work over the past 10 years?

Tucked away in the back of the Facilities Department is the campus lock shop and the man who holds the keys to the kingdom that is Sonoma State--Mark Utarid.

Judging by the decorated workspace it is easy to see that Mark is definitely a fan of both cars and basketball. Cards of former players are neatly adhered to his desk and images of speeding cars fill the majority of empty wall space.

Although Mark has made this space his own, work is also done around the clock. Mark is in and out, sometimes making 10 to 15 service calls a day as a locksmith for Sonoma State's Facilities/Lock Shop Department. At times he has made up to 50 service calls in a single day.

A young man who is using his struggles with poverty in his native country to help his people, has been selected one of the 23 recipients of the California State University Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement. He is a graduate of Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa, CA.

The atrocities and war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces during World War II in the Pacific remain to this day only partly understood in the West.

The new Pacific War Memorial installation at Sonoma State University's Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove is designed to remember those victims, to educate and inform general public opinion on the history of the war in the Pacific, 1931-1945, and to offer a measure of peace and reconciliation for survivors of those atrocities and families of victims.

Newly elected Associated Students President, Mac Hart, has big plans for Sonoma State University. Now entering his senior year at SSU, he was elected in Spring 2013. His running mate, Anthony Gallino, was elected as Executive Vice President.

Hart plans to improve upon the accountability of the Associated Students. He is dismayed by the disconnect between student representatives and the student body that elected them in the first place. Moving forward, he is also hoping to improve communication between student run organizations, as several overlap at with shared visions or goals.

Dr. Patrick Jackson has been with the Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies Program for more than 23 years. He is founding editor of an online scholarly journal, the Western Criminology Review, and teaches criminology, research methods, juvenile justice, and the senior capstone course. He has written a book, articles and chapters on wide-ranging topics and reports based on federal and state grants.

His latest publication is a dramaturgical analysis of how people manage their identities in a dog park. His current research uses photo elicitation interview techniques to understand the role of animals and animal-assisted therapy in the developing lives of foster youth.

"Studying literature is good for you," says Dr. Brantley Bryant of the English department. "Encountering literary texts helps develop sympathy, imagination, and critical thinking skills suited to a changing world. Playing around with books is fun, but it can also generate truly new solutions for the pressing problems of our society."

In his teaching, Bryant aims to help students hone their skills as perceptive interpreters and to connect them to the rich resources contained within the diverse traditions of literature in English.

Bryant joined the SSU faculty as an assistant professor in the fall of 2007 after completing his Ph. D. in English at Columbia University, specializing in medieval British literature. Bryant's doctoral dissertation focused on the connections of politics and poetry in fourteenth-century England, expressing his interest in the political and social power of literature.

When the candidates for Associated Student Government gathered in The Commons on results night, Mac Hart was exhausted and ready for the election process to be over.

"I was pleased by how many of our supporters turned out to hear the results. When the results were read I smiled incredibly wide, high-fived Anthony and hugged Sachi Silva, who was our spectacular campaign manager," he said. "With so many of our supporters at the results night, it felt really good to have won because it showed how effective their efforts were."

Jamila Dozier spent her K-12 education attending Catholic school in San Francisco, and when she began as a freshman at Sonoma State University she admits it was "a tough transition." From uniforms and classes on religion to the atmosphere of SSU, Dozier was able to find a common link between these two environments in the form of community service.

"I enjoyed living in other cultures during my travels, and was treated like a queen," says Martha Peterson (BA English '85, MA English '87). Peterson says she has used the knowledge gleaned from Sonoma State in many ways over the past 30 years.

Dr. Armand Gilinsky joined the Sonoma State faculty in 1994. Before receiving his doctorate in business with an emphasis in policy from Brunel University of London, he received an MBA in finance from Golden Gate University and degrees in educational administration and policy analysis as well as English from Stanford University.

Marylu Mattson, one of the first professors to teach in the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University, passed away on December 30, 2012. Admired by colleagues and students alike for her combination of rigor and creativity in teaching, she was also a dedicated researcher in the humanities and sciences.

A lifetime love of California history led her to explore many corners of the state and culminated in a comprehensive historical narrative: Shaman's Dream: The Modoc War came out in print a few weeks before her death. She also co-authored an acclaimed textbook on writing, Help Yourself: A Guide to Writing and Rewriting, which went through several editions and was used by teachers throughout the country.

Marylu Catherine Mattson was born on September 12, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, daughter of Fred and Lucille Mattson and younger sister to Fred junior. She attended St. Agnes grammar school in the central area of Los Angeles, then following the war the family moved to San Fernando where her father had a grove of ornamental eucalyptus that also included resident geese, goat, cow, dogs, and her cherished horse.

Childhood friends remember her playing the ukelele with the same zest that she prepared for debates, at which she shone. Lu attributed her intellectual awakening to an elderly woman in the neighborhood who shared with her a rich and varied library and collection of classical music, the origin of her lifelong love of literature and opera.

She graduated in 1951 from the high school at Mission San Fernando, and that fall entered Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. Her classmates remember her wit and passion, and "creativity in subverting draconian dormitory regulations." In 1955 she graduated with B.S. in microbiology and chemistry; the avant-garde yearbook she produced that year anticipated lifelong experiments in the arts.

After a year spent touring Europe, she returned to Mount St. Mary's and completed requirements for the B.A. in English, then went on to UCLA, earning an M.A. in English in 1964. A summer spent in art classes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, initiated a lifelong avocation in visual arts, especially sculpture and printmaking.

In 1965 Lu entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Southern California. From graduation through her years of postgraduate study in the humanities she continued scientific work, primarily in the UCLA Hematology Research Laboratory.

Co-workers note that she mastered the arcane language of enzyme biochemistry and developed into a highly sophisticated experimentalist, making a valued contribution to a seminal study in pyruvate kinase deficiency.

In 1967-68 she returned to Europe, first participating in an archeological excavation, then traveling via an Italian scooter through England and the continent, and eventually plunging into the intensive research in London libraries, archives and public records offices that culminated in her frequently-cited Ph.D. dissertation, "Censorship and the Victorian Drama" (1969), still one of the most comprehensive studies of the subject.

From 1968-1970 she was a lecturer in English at California State University Los Angeles, where she initiated an innovative student-to-student tutoring program.
In 1970 Marylu Mattson joined the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University as one of the original faculty members hired to create the new School's interdisciplinary curriculum.

She was valued as colleague and administrator, at different times serving in the Academic Senate and the Vice President's Council, as Campus Coordinator of Computer Assisted Instruction, as elected Chair of the Division of Cluster Schools, and as Provost of the Hutchins School.

Students and peers alike recognized her excellence in teaching: besides teaching expository and creative writing she helped design team-taught undergraduate courses as well as upper division seminars in her areas of special interest including "Censorship in the Arts," "Masterpieces of the Humanities" and "The Irrational in the Western Tradition."

A skilled seminar leader, Professor Mattson modeled intellectual curiosity and openness to new ideas with strong critical sensibility and an absolute commitment to high standards.

A former student spoke for many in saying she was "blessed to be among the fortunate lives she touched and enriched," and a colleague commented on Lu as "a wonderful colleague, and a person of great depth and kindness."

Retirement in 1992 brought more opportunities for research, travel and exploration in the arts. In 1998 she relocated to a vacation cabin in South Lake Tahoe, and in 2001 moved to Santa Fe and then to Glorieta, New Mexico; the southwest sojourn included many trips to San Miguel where she continued study in graphic arts and was welcomed into an intellectual expatriate community.

In 2009 she returned to her beloved Russian River valley and resumed research on the Modoc War. Shaman's Dream: The Modoc War began in the 1970s as a film project and eventually engaged her in far-flung and obscure archives and libraries throughout the west and in Washington, D.C.

Framed as "creative non-fiction," it is the most comprehensive and well-documented study available of the last "Indian war." She also continued work in the arts, proudly showing friends a new press she was using to produce graphic designs, and she integrated professional and artistic interests by promoting a collaboration between the Mendocino Art Center and the Sonoma State art department.

Those who knew her--friends, colleagues, students from many places and diverse backgrounds--share admiration for her intellectual integrity, her personal loyalty, and above all her generosity and courage and her great joy in life. Faced with risky and complicated surgery for cancer, her question was, "Which procedure will leave me still able to ski?"

After suffering a massive stroke, she fought to regain her verbal skills by writing a novel. She loved to gamble, at the blackjack table and at the track; when she won a scratch-off prize she used the money to treat friends to a day at Santa Anita-- where she won the daily double; when she lost, she threw back her head and laughed at the unpredictability of everything.

She plunged wholeheartedly into all her projects, she was constant in support of her friends and colleagues and their endeavors, and from their first appearance in California she was a dedicated fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Marylu is survived by her life partner of 35 years, Linda Day, and was a wonderful second mother to Linda's children Erica Sargent, Andrea Sargent Harbin, and Scott Sargent . She will also be missed by her grandchildren Clara and Amelia Schaeffer, Rowan and Duncan Harbin, Owen and Tavis Sargent.

Intrigued by the environment at a young age, Sonoma State Director of Field Stations & Nature Preserves Claudia Luke always knew that her place was outdoors. "When I was in 5th grade, I went home and I asked my mom what do you call somebody who studies animals," Luke reminisced. "So at a very young age, I knew I wanted to learn about the natural world."

On April 21, Penngrove native Maria Gitin will read from her memoir, "This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the Voting Rights Fight," as part of Sonoma State University's Africana Lecture Series.

Gitin's memoir details the dramatic but little known Freedom Summer of 1965. Her book is based on her letters home and more than 30 interviews with Black activists she re-contacted four decades later.

Gitin will speak about her intensive training, being arrested and being chased by the Ku Klux Klan, and what it was like to be a young woman in the civil rights movement. She will share first person accounts from Black activists she knew and worked with including Charles Bonner, a Sonoma State alumnus and Selma student activist.

Sonoma State University's annual Juried Student Exhibition runs March 26-April 12 in the University Art Gallery on campus. This year's exhibition features over 40 works of art selected by two jurors--Amy Owen, curator of di Rosa in Napa, and artist Chris Thorson.

Owen is curator to di Rosa's 217-acre art preserve and gallery and is the former senior exhibitions manager at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Thorson is a sculptor who specializes in capturing how objects hold cultural significance.

Sonoma State University (SSU) launches its inaugural Social Justice Week March 23-27 with a presentation by former Black Panther, Mama Charlotte Hill O'Neal, who is also an accomplished poet, musician and visual artist, and founding director of Tanzania's United African Alliance Community Center. O'Neal will deliver a keynote speech at the Green Music Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24.

SSU's Social Justice Week features 30 hours of panels, lectures, films and discussions including representatives from Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center, Veterans for Peace, Move to Amend, Metta Center, ACLU, Code Pink, 350 Sonoma County, Project Censored, North Coast Coalition for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace Sonoma County, If Americans Knew, Police Accountability Clinic, and Alternative to Violence.

Providence College history professor and American studies director Jeffrey A. Johnson, author of "They Are All Red Out Here: Socialist Politics in the Pacific Northwest, 1895-1925" (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008), gives the lecture, "Aliens, Enemy Aliens, and Minors: Anti-Radicalism and the Jewish Left" at Sonoma State University in Schulz 1121 on Thursday, March 26, at 1 p.m.

Johnson, a former visiting fellow at Harvard University and Montana Historical Society, argues that Jewish activists during World War I spoke particularly bravely against U.S. intervention in European affairs, and that no group was more commonly persecuted and discriminated against during this period than leftist Jewish Americans. Anti-radicalism in this xenophobic era cannot be separated from ethnic and religious discrimination, he says, and this culture of repression had profound implications for the American left, showing how fear can drive political shifts that restrict prized freedoms. Admission to this event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Sahar Amer, author of "What Is Veiling," [UNC Press, 2014] speaks about the veil, one of the most visible elements of the Muslim faith, at Sonoma State University April 14.

Known by a variety of names, like hijab and burqa, the covering worn by some Muslim women is one of the least understood practices of Islam. Amer, who herself veiled for a short time in her 20s, brings context and a contemporary look at the phenomenon. She explains the origins of veiling in Islamic thought as well as the creative, thoughtful and sometimes subversive reasons behind women's choice to don the veil (or to remove it) in the 21st century.

As the calendar flips to March, Sonoma State University celebrates women throughout history who have stood up to make a difference. There are several events around campus this month that offer exciting opportunities to learn about and experience some of the obstacles women face throughout their lives both historically and currently.

Sonoma Film Institute Celebrates Women DirectorsWhen compiling the list of films to be shown for the spring semester, the Sonoma Film Institute noted that its strongest films shared something in common: women were calling the shots. The timing coincided well with upcoming women's history month in March.

"I am especially excited about 'Que Caramba es la Vida,"' says SFI director Eleanor Nichols. "It is such a joyfully exuberant crowd-pleaser that I am completely baffled that no other theater in the county has chosen to show it."

The Sonoma Film Institute celebrates women filmmakers in March with screenings of two current international features, Doris Dörrie's "Que Caramba es la Vida" and Talya Lavie's "Zero Motivation." All screenings are in Warren Auditorium, Ives Hall, on the Sonoma State University campus, $5-$7 (SSU students free). For more information, or to receive a complete schedule of SFI events, visit www.sonoma.edu/sfi or call (707) 664-2606.

March 6 at 7 p.m., March 8 at 4 p.m.: "Que Caramba es la Vida""Que Caramba es la Vida" is a lively documentary on the female mariachi singers of Mexico City who are breaking down barriers to follow their passion. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.This screening is co-sponsored by the United Nations Association, Sonoma County Chapter.

March 13 at 7 p.m., March 15 at 4 p.m.: "Zero Motivation"Winner of the top prize for narrative world cinema at the Tribeca Film Festival, "Zero Motivation" (2014) is a dark comedy portraying the power struggles of three female conscripts at a remote army base in the Israeli desert. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles.

What do Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Natalie Cole have in common? Harold Jones. Known as the "Singer's Drummer," Jones has laid down the beat for the biggest names in jazz, and on March 11 he gives a clinic and performance as part of the Sonoma State University Jazz Forum.

Jones, who is currently playing on the Cheek to Cheek tour with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, will make a one-day stop at Sonoma State to work with students in the jazz program. He program for this performance in Weill Hall is "One More Time: The Music of Count Basie Featuring Harold Jones."

Jones' style makes him the quintessential big-band drummer, with a crisp, clean sound notable for the high-pitched snare drum crack. He wastes no element of motion, sets up figures beautifully and plays wonderful fills only when necessary.

Despite claims by some people that they do not "see" race, social psychological researchers using a variety of measures have established that racial perception in the United States is both automatic and widespread. Stanford University English professor Paula M. L. Moya, discusses this and other topics in a lecture at Sonoma State University February 11.

Moya is the author of "Learning from Experience: Minority Identities, Multicultural Struggles" (UC Press 2002) and has taught in Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She has also co-edited several books on race and identity. Her talk is titled "Reading Race: From Ferguson, Missouri to Morrison's A Mercy and Back Again."

The Africana Lecture Series is offered weekly by the American multicultural studies (AMCS) department, featuring guest presentations and discussions that focus on historical and contemporary topics relating to people of African descent. This lecture series is in honor of Dr. LeVell Holmes and his contributions to the Sonoma State University community. All lectures are free and open to the public, and take place in Salazar 2020 on Tuesdays, noon to 12:50 p.m., unless otherwise noted.

One of the oldest continually held fundraising events in the area is back. The 31 annual Art from the Heart celebration at the Sonoma State University Art Gallery is set for January 31.

"This is a win-win for both professional artists and the University Art Galley," says Carla Stone, the gallery's exhibition coordinator. Over 150 artists from across the United States, including many from Sonoma County, have created original works of art specifically for the event. "Art from the Heart is a must for novice and seasoned collectors alike," says Stone. "With modestly priced works of art sold during a silent auction, the event is a wonderful way to have a good time and support the gallery, which in turn supports the careers of these fantastic artists. And you have a chance to go home with an original work of art."

The spring 2015 Holocaust Lecture Series at Sonoma State University runs January 20 and continues through May 5. Lectures are Tuesdays, 4-5:50 p.m. in Warren Auditorium (Ives 101) hosted by professor Diane Parness with guest speakers. The theme for the 32nd annual lecture series is "A Century of Genocide."

The Holocaust Lecture Series is sponsored by the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, the Paul V. Benko Holocaust Education Endowment, the Armenian Genocide Memorial Lecture Fund, the Adele Zygielbaum Endowment, the Thomas Family Foundation, the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, the Sonoma State Students' Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) Fund and the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Lectures are free and open to the public, but a daily parking permit ($5) is required at all hours to park on campus.

The Sonoma Film Institute announced today its spring 2015 slate of screenings. This semester celebrates international cinema with a slate of women directors, the latest in American Independent cinema and the Orson Welles Centenary.

The season kicks off with the North Bay premiere of the Australian film "Charlie's Country." David Gulpilil ("Walkabout," "The Last Wave") won a Best Actor prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival as an aging Aboriginal who abandons his remote community in order to live a traditional lifestyle.

SFI Celebrates Women's History Month in March with the Sonoma County premieres of Ana Lily Amirpour's stylish and spellbinding Persian take on the vampire, "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night"; Doris Dorrie's stirring music documentary on female mariachi bands singing their hearts out in Mexico City's Garabaldi Plaza, "Que Caramba es la Vida"; and Talya Lavie's hilarious portrait of everyday life for a unit of young, female soldiers in a remote Israeli desert outpost, "Zero Motivation."

The Sonoma State history department is holding a lecture about the "Christmas truce" and the beginning of World War I. The discussion is led by SSU graduate student Kevin Braafladt, historian for the U.S. Army Reserve Division and curator of the Sergeant Richard Penry Memorial Museum.

The 1914 Christmas truce was a series of unofficial ceasefires that took place across the Western Front during World War One. In many areas the truce started as an opportunity to bury the dead who had fallen in the "no man's land" between the trenches, but instead soldiers held joint burial ceremonies and independently ventured out to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. In one of the truce's most enduring moments, troops from both sides played games of football with one another.

The lecture is in Stevenson 3072 on Tuesday, Dec. 2, noon to 1 p.m. Pizza will be served.

Families everywhere are invited to celebrate the holiday season in song on Sunday, Nov. 23, when the Sonoma State University Symphonic Chorus and Chamber Singers present the first annual Family Concert By Candlelight.

The 2 p.m. concert will be over well before bedtime, and the battery-powered "candles" can't burn little fingers. So bring the kids over to Weill Hall and make this a part of your holiday tradition.

Conductor Jenny Bent has again partnered with the Redwood Empire Food Bank to accept donations of food at the door. Cash donations are always welcome too. For information, call 707-664-3925.

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is a play written by Oscar Wilde that follows the British upper class and their relationships and struggles with social conformity. The play features two eligible bachelors who are in the midst of courting two young women, both of whom are determined to marry a man named Ernest. The play, directed by Judy Navas, runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9 in Evert B. Person Theatre at Sonoma State University.

The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University is pleased to announce In the Valley of the Sun, a multimedia installation by collaborative artists Kevin Cooley and Phillip Andrew Lewis, which opens with a reception on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 4-6 p.m., and will be on view through Sunday, Dec. 7. The artists will discuss their work during a noon lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

The interplay between examination of materiality and poetic references to theory forms Kevin Cooley and Phillip Andrew Lewis' creative practice, driving their work into unexpected territory. Their works consistently act as a meditation on process as well as a response to a particular time or place.

For their new, site-specific installation In the Valley of the Sun, the artists conducted research into the origins of the word Sonoma, and the title of their work is an obvious reference to the meaning of Sonoma as "the Valley of the Moon."

Trio Navarro celebrates its twenty-third season as Chamber Artists-in-Residence at Sonoma State with three Sunday concerts in Schroeder Hall on Oct. 26, Jan. 25 and March 29. All performances begin at 2 p.m.

The first two programs will be devoted to piano trios by Bruch, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Haydn, Dvorak and Arensky, while the season closer features piano quintets (two violins, viola, cello and piano) by Shostakovich and Taneyev.

The Sonoma State University Department of Music at the Green Music Center will host legendary jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz in two appearances with the Jeff Denson Trio at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15. at the Jazz Forum and in concert at 7:30 p.m. Both events take place in Weill Hall. The forum is free of charge and the evening concert is $8.

After more than a decade as a co-leader of the internationally acclaimed trio Minsarah, bassist Jeff Denson is forging into new territory with his trio that features Joshua White on piano and Jon Arkin on drums. Denson has performed with Lee Konitz since 2007 and has been a member of Lee Konitz New Quartet, the only permanent group that the eminent saxophonist has ever led.

The multi-talented William Kanengiser, winner of the Concert Artist Guild International Competition, presents a classical guitar recital at highlighting music from Spain and North America. The concert, presented by the SSU Department of Music, takes place on Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Schroeder Hall.

Kanengiser is active as a soloist, chamber musician, founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and teacher at USC Thornton School of Music. In addition to his many recordings on the DG, Delos, Sony, and Telarc labels, Kanengiser is known for ghost-playing actor Ralph Macchio in the 1986 film Crossroads.

Ken Sonkin directs the dark and edgy coming-of-age story "The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek" in a production offered by the SSU Department of Theatre Arts and Dance from Oct. 16 to Oct. 25 in Studio 76, Ives Hall.

Set in a small rural town during the Great Depression, the play is the story of two teenagers seeking adventure and escape by racing trains.

Physically and psychologically trapped in a town blanketed with despair, poverty and isolation cause several characters to unravel as a tragic, gender twisting mystery unfolds. Playwright Naomi Wallace provides an unsentimental and uncensored portrait of the lives and struggles of the working class, frustrated by their inability to change their circumstances.

The Feminist Lecture Series addresses the timely topic of "Gender and Health" on Thursdays at noon in Stevenson 1002. The series is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Department, it features presentations by local and regional activists, organizers, practitioners, and experts working on issues of gender, social justice, and health.

Hosted by Women's and Gender Studies Professor Dr. Lena McQuade, featured speakers address a range of pressing topics from the health of migrant children to sex education to breastfeeding among Native Americans to human trafficking in Sonoma County.

Music Department in Search of Director of Orchestral StudiesJazz Forum turns five!Weill Hall Artists in Residence Features Frederica von Stade in 2015

Sonoma State University's Department of Music at the Green Music Center (GMC) welcomes one and all to its fall season of more than 30 performances at value prices in GMC's flagship Weill Hall and newly opened Schroeder Recital Hall.

Tickets for all seats are priced at $8 and include parking. Special events, including the Carnegie Hall-trained ensemble Trio Ariadne and the USAF Band of the Golden West, are completely free of charge.

Tickets are required for admission to all concerts, whether charged or not, and available online, by phone, or in person. For information call the university box office at 707-664-4246 or email tickets@sonoma.edu.

The Milky Way, the Blue Snowball, Globular Clusters and galaxies that are light-years away from Earth are just some of the heavenly objects on view at the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy's Public Viewing Nights throughout the fall semester.

Located on the Southeast side of campus, the Sonoma State Observatory is home to telescopes staffed by student volunteers that the public can use during the viewing nights to observe the solar system and see unique perspectives of the sky above.

Staff and faculty members will also give presentations at the viewing, with an emphasis on the night's specific astronomy-related theme. Staff are also available for the questions following the presentation.

SSU's Writers at Sonoma welcomes Julie Carr (left) and Claudia Keelan for a poetry reading on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in Evert B. Person Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

Carr and Keelan are both authors of six books of poetry, many of which have been recognized and honored with various awards.
Some of Carr's works include 100 Notes on Violence and Sara-Of Fragments and Lines.

Carr's next piece, Think Tank, is set to release in 2015. Some of Keelan's poetry books include her most recent publication O, Heart that came out this year and in the American Poetry Review (2007).

The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University unveils The Third Dimension: Four Sculptors with a reception on Thursday, Sept. 4 from 4-6 p.m. The exhibit will be on view through Sunday, Oct. 12 and features the work Shawn HibmaCronin, Walter Robinson, Chris Thorson, and Ann Weber.

"Like contemporary art in general, recent sculpture defies easy categorization," says exhibit curator and art professor Michael Schwager. "There is no longer a dominant aesthetic as there was in the 1950s with Abstract Expressionism, the 1960s with Pop, and the 1960s and 70s with Minimalism."

Details of the Schroeder Hall Grand Opening Weekend at Sonoma State University's Green Music Center have been announced, including ticket information for the free community weekend on Saturday, Aug. 23 and Sunday, Aug. 24. The weekend of free events includes more than 100 artists in ten concerts.

Admission is free to the weekend concerts, but advance tickets are required. Tickets are available to the public beginning Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 10 a.m. and can be reserved in person at the SSU Box Office, online at gmc.sonoma.edu, or over the phone at 866.955.6040. A limited quantity of tickets will be held for walk-up sales on-site for the free community weekend on August 23-24.

Shot at Burning Man 2012, this documentary helps defy the stereotypes of Burning Man, by following the unlikely adventure of two 60-year-old parents for their first burn.

The Sonoma Film Institute announces its fall slate of screenings, ranging from lively documentaries to international features and rarely shown classic cinema.

The season kicks off with the Winner of the Audience Award at the Sonoma International Film Festival, Taking My Parents to Burning Man (8/22, 24), in which first time filmmaker, 22-year-old Bryant 'Spry Bry' Boesen, follows his family's journey to the annual festival in the Nevada desert.

The University Art Gallery presents BFA Exhibition 2014, which opens with a reception for the artists on Thursday, April 17 from 4-6 p.m, and will be on view through Saturday, May 10.

BFA Exhibition 2014 features the work of 11 students in the Art Department who are graduating this spring with their Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), an advanced degree requiring an additional year of focused study in their chosen medium.

The School of Social Sciences Brown Bag Lecture Series welcomes Kathleen Noonan, History, as she presents her work "Gasoline and Unrest: Bayonne Refinery Strikes," on April 15, noon to 1 p.m., in Stevenson 2011. All are invited.

This study looks at the connection between two deadly strikes in Bayonne, NJ and the construction of the nation's first garden-style apartment complex as housing for the employees of Standard Oil. The strikes drew national attention, drawing in prominent labor organizers from the IWW and professional strikebreakers.

Three days of back-to-back concerts at the Green Music Center features Sonoma State University's largest performing ensembles under the direction of program leaders Doug Leibinger, Andy Collinsworth and Jenny Bent.

The performances on April 24, 25 and 26 take place in Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall. Tickets are $15 including parking, with discounts for seniors and students. Admission is free to SSU students with ID.

After more than 20 years of research, Sonoma State University geology professor David Bero has published detailed maps of Ring Mountain and the Tiburon Peninsula. He presented these new maps as the featured speaker of the SSU Geology Club's lecture series on February 19.

Geologists around the world are known for their love of the outdoors, and Bero, who has been lecturing at Sonoma State for the past eight years, is no exception. He has spent nearly every weekend during the past 20 years hiking the trails and enjoying the sweeping vistas of his native Marin County. But unlike day hikers gazing at the panoramic ocean views, Bero's focus is on the rocks beneath him.

Sonoma State University wine business professor Dr. Liz Thach has earned her third Gourmand World Cookbooks award since 2007.

"Call of the Vine: Exploring 10 famous vineyards of Napa and Sonoma" took the title for the Women and Wine Book category in the United States and will via for the title of best in the world at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Yantai, China in June.

"This award feels different than the others," says Thach."It's not dry business text, it's a story," she says, admitting that this award came as a surprise. "This book is more personal. I put a lot of heart and soul into it."

Four undergraduate SSU students were honored at a California State University biotechnology symposium in Santa Clara this week for their work on a new device to help those suffering with Parkinson's Disease.

The team presented a prototype for what they call "PD Analytics," a low-cost device that can quantify tremors associated with Parkinson's Disease. The project aims to monitor and record the tremors of an individual Parkinson's Disease sufferer to allow for adjustment of medication accordingly in real time. To do this, they've constructed a glove capable of measuring intensity and frequency of tremors--the idea being that it can be emailed to a doctor right away. Though other universities are working on similar projects, what sets SSU's apart is its simplicity and low cost.

This follows the 2013 honor of being included in W.W. Norton's Postmodern American Poetry Anthology (2nd edition) that celebrated the works of renowned poets Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, Amira Baraka, Charles Olson, and Barbara Guest.

Professor of Physics and Astronomy Dr. Lynn Cominsky has been awarded the Aerospace Awareness Award by Women in Aerospace (WIA).

She is one of six women in the nation selected for their devotion to the advancement of women in aerospace and for their significant contributions to the field.

Cominsky was nominated by Dr. Hashima Hasan of the NASA headquarters and was chosen for her "excellent leadership and sustained dedication to aerospace education and for her tenacious advocacy for girls and young women in aerospace."

Cominsky will be honored along with other award recipients in Arlington, VA at the Ritz Carton Pentagon City Hotel at a reception dinner and ceremony on Oct. 29.

The Psychology department at SSU has earned two community recognition awards for its Collaborative Autism Training Support Program (CATS) which works with local families whose children are diagnosed with autism.

On Oct. 27, CATS will receive one of fifteen merit awards given by the City of Santa Rosa at a 7 p.m. ceremony in the city council chambers.

This summer, the United Cerebral Palsy Association and the Cypress School of Autism and Behavioral Services presented their own honors to the program because of the efforts of countless SSU students and some faculty members dedicated to assisting these children and their families.

The CATS program, developed in 2005 by psychology professor Lorna Catford, blends the academics and classroom work that psychology students complete at SSU with the hands-on training and service-learning experience those students need in future career settings.

Sonoma State University student Giovanni Lamanna has become the first member of his family to graduate college in part because of the William Randolph Hearst scholarship he has been awarded from the California State University system.

Recognizing his musical talent at a young age, Giovanni Lamanna's mother enrolled him in lessons and encouraged him to follow his passion despite her struggles battling life-threatening systemic mastocytosis.

Through her love and support, he found his desire to become the first in his family to graduate college.

Giovanni completed his bachelor's in music education in spring 2014 at Sonoma State University with a 3.61 GPA and will continue his education in the credential program at Sonoma State beginning fall 2014.

"Music is my universal language, a way to express feelings and touch the souls of others," said Lamanna.

Criminal Justice professor Barbara Bloom was honored with the Meda Chesney Lind Award by the Western Criminology Society this year for her leadership in the field of gender-responsive criminal justice approaches.

Her colleague Barbara Owen was a co-recipient of the award. The award recognizes "significant contributions to scholarship or activism on the intersection of women and crime."

SSU Junior Jesús Guzmán has received the ACLU of Sonoma County's 2014 Mario Savio Student Activist Award at ceremonies recently. Guzmán is an accomplished student and a dedicated social justice activist. He is currently serving as the lead organizer and program manager for the Graton Day Labor Center.

Born in Mexico, he arrived in the United States as a one-year-old and grew up on a small dairy farm in Sonoma County, as the son of a domestic worker and dairyman.

Over the last few years, he founded the DREAM Alliance of Sonoma County and has been organizing with other immigrant youth to increase access to financial aid, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and fighting to end deportations.

Kristal Raheem, senior in Sociology, won first place at the recent CSU Student Research Competition in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Undergraduate category. The award was given for the presentation of her senior project: The Experience: An Analysis of the Retention and Graduation Rate of Black Students at Sonoma State University.

Working with her Sociology program mentor, Assistant Professor Sheila Katz, Raheem assessed the retention and graduation rates of Black students and conducted interviews with a group of black alumni and current students. Raheem is also a McNair NoGAP scholar.

She competed against other outstanding undergraduate students from the other 22 campuses of the CSU at the 28th annual event at CSU East Bay, May 2-3.

Steve Estes, professor of history, has been awarded a German Teaching Fellowship for the summer of 2014 by the Organization of American Historians. He will be teaching a course on the American Civil Rights Movement at the Universität Tübingen in June and July. The fellowship is funded by the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation. While in Germany, Estes will also be lecturing at the University of Frankfurt and the University of Erfurt.

Robert Train (Modern Languages & Literatures) has recently been awarded a 2014-15 Mayers Fellowship at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA.

This highly competitive and prestigious grant award will allow Train to conduct research on his book project entitled Inventing Spanish in Multilingual California, 1769-1849: Global and local practices of language and education using the Huntington's rare books and archival documents.

Faculty, students, and alumni of the Sonoma State and UC Davis joint Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership (CANDEL) program participated in and presented research at the first annual Northern California Educational Leadership Research Symposium this semester.

The symposium was sponsored by a consortium of five California State University Educational Leadership Doctoral Programs in Northern California: CSU Sacramento, CSU Stanislaus, CSU East Bay, Sonoma State University / UC Davis and San Francisco State University.

SSU's Model UN cohort brought back another round of awards from the National Model United Nations simulation held in New York City. This year they served as the Cuban delegation.

Sonoma State University Model United Nations class has received three awards at the recently concluded National Model United Nations simulation held in New York City, says advisor Professor Cynthia Boaz

"We can all be very proud of our SSU student delegation," said Boaz, who heads the UN class for SSU. "These students have worked together since September to create a real-life diplomatic delegation that was officially recognized for their abilities, preparedness and dedication."

SSU students were this year selected to represent Cuba, which brought extra diplomatic challenges given the nature of world geopolitics. The delegation met with the Cuban Permanent Mission to the UN in preparation for their presentations, and spoke with Cuban representatives about policies and current issues.

The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) has inducted Sonoma State University professor Thomas Jacobson, J.D., AICP, of Rohnert Park into the elite membership of AICP's College of Fellows at a black-tie ceremony recently. The event was held in conjunction with the American Planning Association's (APA) 2014 National Planning Conference in Atlanta.

"The AICP College of Fellows recognizes planners who have made exceptional contributions to their communities and to the planning profession," said AICP President Lee Brown, F AICP. "They represent the vanguard of the profession, demonstrating outstanding achievements and excellence whether through professional practice, planning research, teaching and mentoring, or community service and leadership," he added.

Professor Michael E. Smith of the Geology department is currently working with $86,000 with funding until 2016 from the National Science Foundation to pursue a research project exploring "Paleogeographic record of contractional to extensional tectonics in the Cordilleran hinterland, Nevada."

The project seeks to investigate the sedimentary record of the processes that formed and destroyed an Andes-like mountainous plateau and system of high altitude lakes in the location of present day Nevada.

The projects results will improve the understanding of the formation and destruction of high elevation regions worldwide, and give geologists and paleoclimate scientists more accurate input data to constrain their models for mountain formation and climate change in the past.

Paul Draper, Theatre Arts & Dance, has been named the first Director of Sustainability at SSU after the successful implementation of Water Works (www.sonoma.edu/waterworks) across the campus last year.

He will also chair the Sustainability Executive Committee, which was formed by Academic Senate action and approved by President Ruben Armiñana last spring. This position is a two-year assignment.

Two teams of Sonoma State University students recently won the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Challenge, earning them $1,000 each. The first place team's presentation will be submitted for the next stage of the Challenge, where, if selected, they will be awarded $10,000 and be one of five teams to compete in Washington, D.C.

A select group of Sonoma State University students recently honed their leadership skills at a special invitation-only conference in San Diego for math-based majors. The event was sponsored by the California Utilities Diversity Council.

The 10th annual Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Student Leadership Conference held last weekend offered extensive professional and leadership development through direct interaction with industry mentors and speakers.

The hand-picked MESA students, all science, engineering, or math majors, represented over 30 universities and community colleges from across the state, including Sonoma State University

Professor Robert Girling of the School of Business & Economics continues to tell the inside story of twenty inspiring companies that prioritize people and the planet in the revised edition of his book, The Good Company.. Compassionate companies can both change the world and make a profit. TOMS Shoes. Clif Bar. Eileen Fisher. Google. Give Something Back. Such names are synonymous with successful companies that are simultaneously making the planet a safer, healthier place, he says.

Professor of Theatre and Film, and Program Coordinator for Film Studies, Ajay Gehlawat, is intimately familiar with cinema and, in particular, with Indian cinema. He has written the book, Reframing Bollywood: Theories of Popular Hindi Cinema, and edited The "Slumdog" Phenomenon: A Critical Anthology, a collection of essays relating to the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. In addition, he will also be teaching a course on Bollywood in Spring 2014.

Robert Switky, a lecturer in the political science department, has recently published Wealth of an Empire: The Treasure Shipments that Saved Britain and the World which tells the dramatic true story of a top-secret mission that changed the course of World War II.

Professor Michael Ezra of the American Multicultural Studies Department has completed his third book project, a collection of essays published by Routledge called The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. More information can be found at http://tinyurl.com/n5ndbdc.

A young man who is using his struggles with poverty in his native country to help his people, has been selected one of the 23 recipients of the California State University Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement. He is a graduate of Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa, CA.

Whether it's having students act out the consultation of the oracle at Delphi in a mythology class, creating a chessboard out of random items to discuss Ferdinand de Saussure's idea's about linguistic structure in a theory class, or having students propose plans for new scholarly publications, Brantley Bryant tries to let no class go by without some memorable moment.

Bryant, an associate professor of English, recently received an Excellence in Education Award from the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce at an Aug. 14 ceremony honoring exemplary educators.

The SSU Men's Lacrosse team wrapped up their regular season on April 14 finishing with an 11-3 record overall and a perfect 6-0 in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL). Led by six seniors the team has qualified for WCLL Championship tournament as the #1 seed this weekend.

The six seniors are Casimir Morawski, midfield, Ryan Heidrich midfield, Josh Lucero, midfield, Matt Gillan attack Kyle Riddle attack and Brian Ponzi short stick defense. Having ended the 2012 season with a 2 overtime loss to Cal in the WCLL semifinal game, this group was determined to focus on winning their league championship while ultimately aiming for the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) National Championship.

Jean Wasp, News and Public Information Coordinator, recently gave a presentation to the Association for Fundraising Professionals in Santa Rosa as part of a media panel. Wasp discussed the university's strategy for developing news on its web site and home page. She described how she nurtures relationships with the media and creates story ideas for ongoing coverage of SSU.

Philosophy Professor John P. Sullins will be presenting an invited paper on the moral arguments for robotic weapons arms control as well as speaking on a panel on ethics and autonomous weapons at CyCon, June 4-7, 2013 in Tallinn, Estonia. This conference is sponsored by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence and IEEE.

His paper will focus on the ethical criticisms of the overuse of telerobotic and semi-autonomous weapons systems which have been enthusiastically embraced by politicians and militaries around the world. The paper suggests certain considerations motivated by the philosophy of technology that might be worthy of addition to future robotic arms control treaties.